Stephen King - what am I missing?

His short stories are powerful

Like others, I came to King in my early teens and went down the horror route (king, koontz, Barker, Herbert). At that point I think was just working my way through the library's stock.

Stopped all that pretty much at A level, when my English teacher told me i should be broadening my horizons!

Now I find if I dip in occasionally, as a lazy read, they're fine. But as a pp said, king suffers from churning them out and a die hard fan base.

I quite liked Fairytale, but I enjoyed Billy Summers more. Especially because of how upset it appeared to make lots of King's Maga fans.

If you like horror but don’t like King, try M R James. If you don’t know anything about him, watch the Mark Gatiss documentary on YouTube.

I prefer Dean Koontz, but he too, has written lots of books and some are gripping and some just seem meh!, I did enjoy SK ‘Fairy tale’, and I like his short stories, but his bigger tomes I found I lost concentration. Edited to add my favourite book of SK is ‘the institute’.

I love the world he creates, geographically it’s all there - just an eerie, twisted version of it. and the characters- there’s so much detail, you feel like you know them. I loved his old / horror stuff precisely because it’s not fantasy - it’s absolutely set in the ‘real’ world but all gone horribly wrong. The little clues he drops that start the alarm bells ringing.

Salem’s Lot 😱 terrifying
The Shining
The Stand
Pet Sematary
It
Misery
The Dark Half

I grew up on Point Horror so Stephen King felt like a kind of natural progression in my early teens. IT, Needful Things, The Green Mile and The Stand were great, Dark Tower series and Mr Mercedes also really good as are some of his shorter collections ones. Newer stuff I'm less bothered about, and the one with his son I couldn't finish. I like getting stuck into long descriptions and side quests into people's inner thoughts, so it does suit me - although I appreciate why someone would feel like it drags on and on pointlessly.
I guess he's just a guy who knows how to write a pop-horror style easy reader, it's descriptive and intricate but not very complicated and I'm sure there are 'better' writers out there in terms of quality. But I get lost in the story and care about the characters, so it works for me.

I love Stephen King and there’s lots to choose from. My all time favourites are Under the Dome, Duma Key and The Mr Mercedes Trilogy. If his writing isn’t for you I wouldn’t press on too hard though.

I have only read one (Pet Semetary) for a book club. Didn't hate it but it didn't make me want to read any more. Reading horror is not really my thing although I have enjoyed some of the films. Particularly liked Dolores Claiborne with Kathy Bates and Judy Parfitt.

If I don't enjoy a writer I don't read them, I don't worry about whether I'm missing out because they are popular with lots of other people.

That one is awful. Accompanied by an equally awful film adaptation with John Cusack. 2002-2006 was not a good era.

This! I’m the same as you. I’ve tried to read Carrie, Pet Semetary and others but found them hard going. I like Nightmares and Dreamscapes though which are short stories.

When SK is at his best, I forget I am reading.

I feel like it plays inside my head like a movie. But I have absolutely read books of his that disappointed me.

11.12.63 was my favourite for this. But if you don't like him that's fine too. I really couldn't get into the Northern Lights books and I had high hopes going in.

I agree that some of his books are better than others, but I've always loved his descriptive style of writing. I can picture the scenes, people etc that he writes about.
So much so, that when I watched the original Pet Semetary, everything in it looked exactly how I'd pictured it all in my mind! So the screenwriter obviously got it like I did!

I think a lot of his earlier books are amazing. Later ones not so much. The story is there but most need editing to almost half.

He sets up settings and descriptive narrative really well, I used to eat his books as a teen. I’ve read The Shining since and I really enjoyed it but it didn’t quite do what it did for me as a teen (but I’ve turned wussy since ageing 😅)

Ha! I agree. I have no interest in horror, but I decided to read The Cell, since the premise sounded interesting.
Couldn't believe what a bore it was, as I recall - a floundering plotlessness and dull writing.

I love him. I've been reading his books since I was 10. The Stand is my favourite book of all time.

That said I haven't read much of his new stuff in the last decade (except The Institute). I think I'm subconsciously saving them because one day in the not so distant future there will be nothing new to read.

I love SK. I love the detail in his writing, I adore the character development, the inner thoughts, I love the descriptive way he writes. So much so, that I'm now disappointed with other thriller style books, because they're sooo basic and simple, I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot with some of these authors.

I began reading them in the late ‘80s and stopped in the ‘90s at some point. I did really enjoy the old material such as Firestarter, Christine, The Tommyknockers, It, Misery, Cujo, The Shining, Needful Things, Rose Madder. I think I liked how he would get into the characters’ heads so well. Some of the plots were very imaginative. At some point I hated the gore and found them depressing and predictable. I bought Dr Sleep the follow up to The Shining and wasn’t impressed. Another one which had loads of potential but just fell flat for me was Sleeping Beauties. I haven’t read another since. “It” and “The Shining” are the most terrifying books I’ve ever read.

I like spooky but not horror so much so I tend to avoid most of his work.

I read all his books when I was young and loved them.
These days I find myself skim reading the pages and pages describing something that could be done in half a page.
I enjoyed the Mr Mercedes series, loved the Holly books, and enjoyed Fairytale except for the Fairytale bits 😀 . Like Rose Madder before the supernatural parts.
Billy Summers is probably one of my favourite SK books.
Some of the older film adaptations are on YouTube if anyone wants to watch them.

Yes i enjoyed this one, but not many others.

I hate his work. Mind you, my idea of fiction heaven is Virginia Woolf or Marguerite Duras, so no surprises there.😀

You have to pick the right ones. They can all be so different.

If you don’t like the more traditional SK (Carrie, Pet Semetary…) try Under the Dome or The Green Mile.

I have read most of his shorter books, and even those have various parts where I think "just get on with it!". There are some which I've started and just stopped because he seems to just drag random stuff into the storyline and then it's like wading through treacle. The one that sticks in my mind is Needful Things, I really tried to read it, but just kept getting bogged down and bored.
I've found all his short stories to be better, he gets on with the plot and it finishes before he can start droning on!

Some writers just aren't for you. I love Stephen King on the whole though his 'inner thought' ramblings for characters can get a bit much in some books. I don't get Terry Pratchett's work but it's very popular with others.